Iso-Octane Internal Reforming in a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Using Co/CeO2 as Anode

This work presents performance of an i-C8H18 internal steam reforming solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) with Co/CeO2 as anodic electrode. Initially, the catalytic activity of bi-metallic Cu-Co ceria-supported catalysts for i-C8H18 steam reforming was examined. In all cases, gas mixtures rich in H-2, CO, CO2 and CH4 were produced. Among all samples tested, the 20wt% Co/CeO2 catalyst exhibited the optimum catalytic performance achieving H-2 yields exceeding 75% at 700 degrees C. In addition, the excellent durability of this catalyst was proven by long-term (23 h) stability experiments. To this end, the mono-metallic Co/CeO2 catalyst was selected to serve as the anodic electrode in the electrocatalytic and fuel cell tests. During the fuel cell measurements, the power output was found similar to that obtained when 10% H-2/Ar mixtures were fed to the cell, indicating that Co/CeO2 can be considered as a promising anodic composite for direct hydrocarbon fed SOFCs.